HD Childree
Education and Writing
Text Coded by Word Origin
4,850 words
4,193 words
The pdf files contain the color coding legend. The following is a list of word origins and editorial decisions made to contend with the complexity of word origins in the essay.
Coding Decisions
To facilitate the coding process, names, dates, and citation information were removed and replaced with an X.
The original essay, with all names, dates, and citations, contained 4,850 words.
The coded text with Xs inserted for names, dates, and citations has 4,193 words.
The removal of noncoded words resulted in a file of 3,802 words.
Words are coded based upon the perceived root word. Compounding with prefixes and suffixes with different etymologies frequently occurs. Simplification of the word origin was necessary for analysis.
Word Origins
Germanic
*Old Saxon*
Old English
Middle English
Modern English
Anglo Norman
Old French
Middle and Modern French
Latin
Middle Dutch
*Scandinavian*
/invented by Spenser/
? unknown origin
3,802 words
Changes for Further Study
To improve the readability of the files, I recommend coding them as individual web pages instead of pdf files, which will allow for easier access. Current time constraints prevent such coding.
I recommend not using underlining in the coding of Old Saxon, Old English, Anglo Norman, and Old French. Since most of the words originate in these languages, most of the text appears to be underlined; switching the underlining (due to limited color availability) to Middle English and French (which have fewer words) will help prevent eye strain.
I recommend changing the coding colors of Anglo Norman and Scandinavian to opposing colors so as not to visually conflate the word origins.
To demonstrate the difference between Middle and Modern French, I recommend coding these words separately.